From a Clipper's Heart: Help my unbelief

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
-Mark 9:24

The Bible often reveals that as a follower of Jesus Christ we are to have Faith. Not just any kind of Faith but strong Faith. Faith that can move mountains, Faith that produces bounty like mustard seeds, Faith unlike the fig tree who was unable to bare fruit.

It feels like that once we are saved we should automatically have this Faith. That we are to stand tall, step out into world and share the word. That we should just make the unbelievable happen. That our Faith is instantly perfected when we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ.

All to often, it seems we take a very worldly approach to being saved. It is almost appearable that we "went to the doctor and got all fixed". So, instantly we can return to our lives and we are unbeatable. The doctor fixed us and we are all set, nothing can tear us down. Fear is no longer lingering in front of us.

The interesting thing is, once we are saved, we are more broken than we once were. Yes, I understand the most holy moment between man and God has taken place when we accept Jesus into our lives. It is a moment one can never take back and will likely relive several times over. However, at that moment our world is shaken and Satan has thrown an entire army of evil soldiers at us.

1 Peter 5:9 shares that Satan is a prowling lion seeking someone to devour. Believe me when I write, "why would Satan seek an unsaved man to devour?"

If one has not placed their life in the one who created him, why should Satan be worried? Satan does not fear this individual. This unsaved soul is not  "winning" Christians or "revealing" the spiritual realm to anyone. So, he can leave them alone. Assuming that because they do not know and do not believe, he has won them (Satan is very competitive and is very determined to win more human souls to the dark side).

However, the day you are saved is the day Satan realizes God is winning. Therefore, he will attack every aspect of your  life. He will find your weaknesses, your struggles, your past hurts and determine the best way to "break you". He doesn't stop at your personal short-comings, he also seeks out your family. He finds ways to cause arguments or disconnect a husband and wife, parent and child. He even enters into friendships and seeks destruction upon them.

Satan is not ill-equipped and spiritual war is very much a reality, constantly being fought on earth. While Jesus has you protected, while he has angels guarding you, while he has revealed the armour we must carry, we must first and foremost have Faith. Faith is what will win each battle Satan initiates.

I love today's verse, that the desperate Father of the child cried out and said he did believe but needed help with his unbelief. This verse is so powerful in the fact that this man so desired to love God and to trust God and to know, that even through his circumstancesthey would be okay, that he asked for help. He did not seek help from a friend or family member, he sought help from the Almight, All Powerful and Amazing.  

However, our human nature is to doubt, distruct and to pull away from situations that make us uncomfortable. We automatically seek to blame others for those bad things that happen to us. What is interesting is this man fought his human natures and desires to curse God and instead he cried out for his belief to be strengthened.

Now let me tell you, this man had the right idea. Realizing that God does not bring perfection, but that he brings comfort and forgiveness. I am impressed that even though the world often builds Christians up into being unbreakable, perfect vessels readily sharing God's will, that this man was in such a "real" relationship with our God that he was human enough to ask for help! That his friendship and love for God was so "authentic" he was able to breakdown in order to be built back up.

Think about your Faith and think about your situations. It is very easy to state "I have Faith" but when those struggles come, those hurts, those pains, those unexpected burns set in, I ask, "Is your Faith breaking through?"

Jesus says in Matthew 4:10, when one is under attack, you should demand Satan to go away from you and that you should worship the Lord your God and only serve Him. This verse reveals, Faith is the act of defeating the temptation to break down, give in and give up. Faith is the act of requesting our Lord's help to send Satan away and then consistently and without hesitation, seeking his face.

Today I encourage you to lay your situations before God, to reveal your struggles (he knows them already), the areas where you are grasping for the reigns of control and that you shout at the top of your lungs (day in and day out), "I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF!"

What a beautiful paradox.

May God Bless you today,
The Constant Clipper